


Game Day

by Spazzo47



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: College Football, F/M, Newsroom Fanfiction Challenge 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 19:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazzo47/pseuds/Spazzo47
Summary: This is for Lilac Mermaid's Fanfiction Challenge December 2015, Rituals and Superstitions.It's the final game of the 2019 college football season and the McAvoy house is panicked when they realize that something important is missing.
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	Game Day

Will poked his head in Mac’s office, apparently missing her sigh of annoyance and eyeroll. “Honey, where’s the Pumpkin Pop?”

On the other side of the door jamb, their son Brandon poked his head in. “Yeah, Mom. Nebraska can’t win if we don’t have Pumpkin Pop and there’s none in the refrigerator.”

Mac looked between the twin faces of her husband and their 5-year-old son. Will put on a strong face, while his doppelganger looked completely panicked at the prospect. Looking at them, wearing their matching “Game Day” shirts --Brandon’s with an extra day of wear because he thought it made it extra lucky -- and “lucky jeans”, Mac tried to hold back a laugh. “You two drank the last bottles last week and the store didn’t have anymore.”

Mac watched as Brandon mimicked what he must have thought a heart attack looks like as he exclaimed, “but they just gotta win Mom! If they win today, then they can go bowling. Right Dad?”

Will looked crestfallen as he nodded his head in apparent defeat. “They haven’t beat Iowa since 2014. 2014! Do you know how long ago that was?” Brandon tried to figure out the math. “Five years, Mac. They’ve lost to those –”

“Will”

Catching himself, Will looked at his incredibly agitated son and said, “Hawkeyes 4 years in a row.”

“Yeah, 4 years!” Mac watched the men in her life pacing in opposite directions while trying to stifle a laugh. “And now they’re going to lose. And all because we don’t have any Pumpkin Pop!”

Mac mumbled under her breath, “and because their defense has holes planes can run through and the offense just isn’t running on all cylinders.”

Will looked her, “What?”

Mac shook her head and gestured at the computer. “I was just looking at this email. From Reese.” Will looked at her appraisingly while Brandon continued his histrionics. It’s not that Mackenzie cared what the Cornhuskies, or whatever, did. But, she knew how the team fared because after the game, Will would analyze the game to a mezmorized Brandon, and well, Brandon can inherit a near eidetic memory from either one of his parents. So after 11 games so far this season, Mac knows more about the Nebraska team than she ever wanted to know. 

As she watched Brandon continue to panic and Will realize she lied, Mac remembered that this is her favorite time of the week. Saturday mornings start with Will and Brandon making pancakes in a football shaped cookie cutter, with a special ingredient that they won’t share with her (it’s cinnamon), because according to Brandon, if girls know then the team will get cooties or something. She didn’t follow the story and Will worked too hard at not laughing that he couldn’t help. Then the men watch a pre-game show and boo any team that isn’t one of Brandon’s favorites that week. Usually Will lets Brandon choose their favorite teams, but every so often, Brandon chooses wrong and Will corrects him. At 11:30, a half hour before the first game kicks off, Will puts frozen pizzas in the toaster oven so they can eat lunch and then they watch the game. They only watch one game a week. And, if their team wins, then they each get a bottle of Pumpkin Pop with dinner to celebrate. If not, they drink water. Will and Mac came to that compromise when she learned that the Huskers, whatever the fuck a husker is, don’t have many prospects of a winning season. 

At the end of the night, Will always tucks Brandon in and they talk about the game and life and whatever else is important. At Mac’s urging, Will started using that time to talk to Brandon about being a good winner or loser. Once Brandon is asleep, his parents cuddle on the couch, watch a movie, and laugh at their overly dramatic son. Earlier in the season, Will told her that Brandon wanted to be a football player, but Will convinced his mini-me to be a kicker. “Kickers get to be part of the team, don’t get tackled and sometimes get to be the hero.”

Mac still didn’t like the idea, but said, “unless he plays for Nebraska, then he’ll muff every single field goal.” 

“Next year we’ll have a kicker, and that soccer player is starting to get good.”

“Of course, he plays real football!”

For today though, Mac has to wear the scarlet letter for letting the team down because their local grocery store is bereft of Pumpkin Pop and she didn’t plan on the Cornhogs, that doesn’t sound right, winning 5. But if they do pull off a win, she will special order the damn seasonal treat if she has to. 

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure, there is very little fictional in this story. I started as a Cornhuskers fan a few years ago when I decided to start watching college football (which I highly recommend, it's so much more fun than NFL) and unfortunately, this year I was not able to find the Pumpkin Pop that I attribute Husker wins to at my local store. I'm still working on finding the right combinations of things to do/wear on and around gameday to ensure a Nebraska win. But once I find it, the Huskers will be unstoppable.


End file.
